368 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Dr. Edgar A. Meams observed it in the San Francisco Mountains, in north- 

 ern Arizona, and says: "It is a resident to the altitude of 10,000 feet, ascending 

 still farther. On the San Francisco Mountains I found its nest, with fresh eggs, 

 at the upper limits of the pines, in the second week in June, 1887, while the 

 nests found in the lower Mogollons during the last third of May of the same 

 year all contained young." 1 



Mr. W. G. Smith writes: "I found these Jays very common in the moun- 

 tains of Colorado at all seasons, but during winter they prefer lower altitudes, 

 coming around the houses about the towns, and they are not particular then 

 upon what they feed. At such times they are rather tame and noisy, and, 

 like all Jays, very active. In Larimer County, Colorado, they begin breed- 

 ing early in May, but I have taken sets of fresh eggs at an altitude of about 

 9,000 feet in the middle of June, and in favorable seasons I think they breed 

 much higher still. Although their nests are bulky, yet they are rather difficult 

 to find. The birds are very quiet during the nesting season, and are then rarely 

 seen. The female sits very close, and will allow you almost to touch her before 

 leaving the nest. On account of the early date on which they nest, their eggs 

 are sometimes frozen and then abandoned. I have occasionally found one or 

 two eggs in this condition. After the entire clutch is laid I think they are 

 never left unprotected. During the breeding season these birds are perfect 

 terrors to all smaller birds, incessantly hunting for their eggs and young, of 

 which they devour great numbers. I have seen spirited combats between them 

 and other birds, especially Robins, at whose cries of alarm all of the species 

 within hearing distance hastened to help to fight off their common enemy, which 

 they frequently succeeded in doing. Even the little Pigmy Nuthatches are 

 capable of driving away these wholesale destroyers. I have noticed them 

 hiding grains of Indian corn in cracks and under the bark of trees, providing 

 for a possible scarcity of food in the future." 



Their general habits and call notes resemble those of the preceding sub- 

 species. Their nests are usually placed in small bushy pines or other conifers, 

 at no great distances from the ground, varying mostly from 8 to 15 feet. 



Lieut. Harry C. Benson, United States Army, found the Long-crested Jay 

 breeding near Fort Stanton, New Mexico, in May, 1884. 



A nest and four eggs, presented to the United States National Museum 

 collection by Mr. Denis Gale, were found near Gold Hill, Boulder County, Colo- 

 rado, in a black willow, 9 feet from the ground, at an altitude of 5,500 feet, on 

 April 23, 1889, the earliest breeding record I have for this subspecies. Four 

 sets of eggs in the Ralph collection, obtained in Estes Park, Colorado, were 

 taken, respectively, on May 3, 9, 21, and 25; all of the eggs were fresh when 

 found, excepting those of the last date, in which incubation had commenced. 

 The breeding season, in Colorado at least, appears to be at its height in this 

 month, but in the higher mountain ranges it is protracted into June, while in the 

 mountains in southern Arizona it probably commences early in April. 



1 The Auk, Vol. VII, 1890, p. 256. 



